This invention relates to terminations (e.g., connectors) for coaxial cables, and more particularly to terminations for cables made up of several co-planar signal wires, each of which has its own coaxial shield including a ground wire in the plane of the signal wires.
Cables made up of several individual coaxial cables joined together in one planar assembly (sometimes referred to herein as ribbon coaxial cables) are being increasingly employed in sophisticated electronic equipment such as computers. The cables of interest here are those in which each shield structure includes a ground wire in the plane of the signal wires. These cables are typically relatively small (e.g., 12 signal wires and associated coaxial shields in a ribbon 1.2 inches wide). The task of physically separating and terminating such a large number of closely spaced signal wires and shields in order to connect the cable to other apparatus such as a printed circuit board or connector is tedious, time consuming, subject to error, and costly.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide improved and simplified termination methods and apparatus for coaxial cables of the type described above.
It is a more particular object of this invention to provide improved and simplified connectors and connector methods for coaxial cables of the type described above.